Vending machine



Feb; 26, 1935. w. K. TAVENDER VENDING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 7, 1932 T a 1i INVENTOR Q Mil/l E i'awnaer ATILORNEY Feb. 26, 1935, w. K. TAVENDER 1,992,554

VENDING MACHINE Filed May 7, 1952 s Sheets-Sheet 2 29' Z a g9 14 Feb. 26, 1935. w. K. TAVENDER VENDING MACHINE Filed May '7, 1932 5 Shets-Sheet' 3 INVENTOR BY MQRNEY Feb. 26, 1935. w TAVENDER 1,992,554

VENDING MACHINE Filed May 7, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY Feb. 26, 1935.

W. K. TAVENDER VENDING MACHINE Filed May '7, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 m llllillllll r L E Wm K r M Z w ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 26, 1935 UNITED 1 STATES VENDING MACHINE,

Walter K. Tavender, Haworth, N. J., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Automatic-Equipment,

Inc., New ware York, 'N. Y., a. corporation of Dela:

Application May 7, 1932, Serial na'coasor 6 Claims. (01.31247) This invention relates to vending machines, and

my improvements are directed to, an apparatus of s mple and economical construction having -rela-, tively few movable partslwherein afixed support 5 for stacked vendible articles is employed and wherein the-topmost articles are tobe. removed, in succession, through the medium of coin actuated delivery mechanism,,until thestaek thereof is depleted, and whereby, when; the'bottom article of the stack has been removed, the .coin admission means becomes automatically closed. 7'

With this apparatus it .is desirable that the vendible articles be in the form of. packages, or thelike, having flat surfaces, so that they may be conveniently 'piled in a vertical stack, and thedelivery means comprise awheeled device, which is adapted to rest .upon the topmost article, and is provided with means for engaging said'article to.

r acter.

pull it off the stack. V

The wheeled device-travels on.a vertical 'guide member which at its upper portion is connected-to,

a carriage that travels along. a fixed horizontal bar, said carriage being engaged with'a manually operating member, by whose agency the carriage is drawn forwardly, thereby causing the delivery means to eject the topmost article.

The carriage. is normally held fast by lock means until a proper coin has been introduced into the mechanism, whereupon, in starting to actuate the operating member, the coin releases the lock means, when the carriage is free to be'moved of Fig. l.

'. Fig. 7.

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail, taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a, horizontal section, taken on the line 66 of Fig. '7. l Fig. '7 is a side elevation, looking. in the direction of thearrows 7-7 of Fig. 6. I

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the Fig. 7. Fig.

line 8 8 of 9 is a section taken on the line 9-9 of forwardly and thereby to eject the topmost arti-- Fig. 10 isa perspective detail of the coin supporting means. H g

Fig. 11 is a perspective detail of the meanfs of connection between the carriage, and guard support; I a 1 g v Fig. 12- is a partial sectional view, talren on the line 1'212 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 13 is a top plan ing washers and thelike. 3 Fig. leis a section on the line 145.14 of Fig. 13. Fig. 15 is a sectiononthe line 1'5'15 of Fig.

Fig.116 is a cross section on the line.1616 of Fig. 13. i I

, Aspremised, my

of economical construction and, hence, has relatively few moving parts,

In Figs. 1 and2 there is represented a casing 1,

which contains a frame comprising a fixed side. .wall 2, and an opposedwall 3 whichis adjust-.

able toward and fromfsaidfixed wall, to vary the widthof the intermediatespace, according to the widthof the vendible articles A that are to be stacked between said walls uponIa fixed base 4.,

Said'base 4, which is inclined downwardly at its forward portion,'a's as, has an angled'portion 6 by which it is attached to the fixed wall 2, and also has adjustable means of connection 7 with an inturned flange 8 of the wall 3.

through, base 4 which receives screws 8. "that depend from flange 8, and are secured by nuts 8a and a washer 8b; The walls 2 and Bare further adjustably connected as by the rodsections 9 and turnbuckle 10.

I The walls 2 and {respectively carry angled; members 2', 3', that are vertically disposed and providednear both ends with bolts 2a, 3a, slidable in horizontal slots 21); 3b,. said bolts being yieldingly adjustable by spring washers 2c, 30 These angled members thus serve as rear guides or limits for the stack of articles. and are adjustable} to accommodate articles of varying lengths The stack of, articles supports an ejecting de vice which is generally indicated by the numeral 11, andconsists of a trough shaped member hava. ingthe walls 12 andbase 13, the walls 12 carryingfwheels 14 by which said'member may ride upon the topmost article of the stack thereon;

andsaid'base pivotally carrying a depending spur or pawl. 15 which is adapted to engage behind the rear end of the topmost article, to withdraw said 7 topmost article the forward movement of the the front viewfof modified coin sup;- porting means, which includes means for rejectimproved vending machine is 3.; "OFFIC V which are of simple char; 7

The adjust able means herein shown consists of a slot 4! ejector. It will be understood that the pawl 15, being pivoted, is free to swing upwardly in the rearward movement of the ejector, as it passes back over a succeeding topmost article, preparatory to the engagement of said pawl with the rear end of said article. Base 13 carries a forward hook 13a to lie in front of the topmost article and prevent its being shifted out.

Attached to the ejector is one arm 16 of a U- shaped member, that extends forwardly to the bend 17, whence the other arm 18 extends rear 7 e forward boundary of said space, and the plate 54 wardly, in spaced relation to arm 16, said arm 18 carrying a slide 19, that is adapted-to travel upon a vertical guide bar 20. The slide 19 is composed of the separated plates 21, which are held. apart, by spacers 22, and have between them the wheels 23 that co-act with the edges of bar 20. to facilitate the travel of the slide, whereby the ejector is movable vertically. Thus, as the topmost article movably mounted on a'horizontal bar 28, that ex-;

tends between the front and'rear of the machine. As here shown said bar 28 is secured to the frame wal129 by brackets 30, 31. i

It is to be noted that the wall 29 isin the form of a panel, to which the wall 2 is secured, in spaced relation therewith, as by bolts 29. Said panel therefore carries all the operative elements of the apparatus, which are thereby disposed at,

' 1 nated coin,-will fall between the free end 56'of one side within the casing.

The traveller 24 is secured tothe vertical bar 20, as at 32, and thereby the movement of said t'ravelleris transmitted to ejector 11. A pull rod 33, having an operating handle 34, co-acts with the traveller 24 for drawing said traveller forwardly, and a weight 35, connected with said pull rod by a cable 36, that passes over a fixed pulley 37, is employed for the purpose of returning said traveller and pull rod to their normal position. Also, as will be apparent, the vertical bar 20, slide 19 and ejector 11 are operated at the same time, in their out and in movements, respectively by the pull rod and weight.

Connected with pull rod 33, as by a pivot 39, is a horizontal lock member 40, which is secured to traveller 24, said member 40 having a lip 41 at its ments.

. arm 44; that is provided with an angled finger 45,

whoseunder surface is inclined rearwardly upward. It is my purpose to provide an interponent,

such as .a proper coin, to be haltingly supported in position to co-act with finger 45, to lift said pawl and thereby release thetraveller 24 from itslocked engagement, so that the pull rod may then be capable of operation. The interponent or proper coin, such as indicated at B, is to be introduced atrslot opening 46 into a passageway formed between the spaced plates 4'7, and guide members '48, 49, and 49' in said passageway,

becomes the topmost will direct said coin to an outlet channel 50, whence said coin will fall upon a fixed base support 51 that is extended from the frame wall 29. While thus halted on base support 51 the coin is held in a vertical position by a side wall 53 that is secured to the traveller 24, and by a spring plate 54 that is secured to said side wall 53, in spaced relation therewith, aspacing block 55 establishing the intermediate space that separates side wall 53 and plate54, which space is sufiicient to freely receive the coin. The block 55 forms the is inturned at its free end 56, to form the rear boundary of said coin retaining space.

, 'The thus lodgedcoin, in the normal position of the traveller 24, is located rearwardly of finger 45, the upper edge of the coin perimeter extending into a horizontal plane lying above the inclined under surface of said finger. Therefore, as the traveller 24 is started forwardly the coin will engage said finger 'at its under inclined surface, thereby lifting said finger, whereby the nose of pawl 42 is released from its engagement with lip 41, permitting the' tra'veller 24 to be drawn forwardly in the operation of :the pull rod;

end in downwardly inclined portion 57, which constitutes a guide path for directing the coin, when it has passed from under. finger 45, to fall into a coin box 58, whose entrance is positioned below incline 57,-in the path of the falling coin. The guide member 48may be a magnet, serving at its poles to deflect a magnetizable disk, causing such disk to fall through a chute 59, and thus to be returned without performing any operative function in'the machine. Coins or substitutes therefor that are smaller. than a'proper or desigplate 54 andthe rear edge of base support 51 and thus will also be returned through the chute 59.

g In the instance of anon-magnetic washer or the like of approximately the same size as a proper coin, this will be caught by a-fixedly located piv otal hook 60 that lies normally against the plate 54 under the pressure of a spring 61, saidhook impaling the washer through an open-ended slot 62 in plate 54 in the first part of the outward movement of traveller 24, so that such washer is not carried forwardly by the coin holding means, but is left behind and allowed to fall as the support 51 moves away therefrom. An

outer plate 63 is placed over the plate 54 and extends therebeyond to form an additional support for a washer that has been partially ejected, prior to return of member 53, for final ejection.

In order to provide for the ejection of washers, without requiring excess motion of the traveller 24, the plate end 56 and the free end of plate 63 constitute a double hold thereon. The initial movement of traveller 24 shifts the washer until it is held between the ends of both plates 54' and 63, thus preventing swiveling of the washer while the hook 66" becomes withdrawn, and resumes its position behind the washer. Continued movement of the traveller forces the washer under the flange 53a of wall 53, whence it will fall away.

The arm 18 ofthe U-shaped member that-connects ejector 11 with slide 19, is itself slidable in a horizontal'guide 64, said guide having a hook shaped portion 65 thatslidably engages an outturned flange 66 on wall 2.

Attached to and pendent from guide 64 is a bar 67, which is provided with a vertical slot 63. Adjustably connected with bar 67 is a bracket '25 The base support 51 terminates at its forward vertically and horizontally. The bracket 69 has anangled arm '72 that extends laterally and serves as engaging means for oneend of a tape '73, whose other end is engaged by a springre turn roller 74, that is mounted, in a fixed position, in a plane lower than the base 4.

The bracket 69 is adjusted to a position where its arm '72, with relation to the ejector, will lie in front of the next succeeding article of the stack below the topmost article, so that said bracket and the tape 73 will guard the other articles of the stack against delivery at the time of ejecting the topmost article.

As means for closing the coin receiving slot 46 when the stack of vendible articles has been exhausted, I employ a closure slide '75, operable in guides 75', and carried by a rod l6, whose lower end is pivoted to a lever 77, said lever having a pendent lug '78 by which it is fulcrumed at 79, and carrying a partial weight-compensating weight at its free end. Normally, with the ejector raised by the presence of one or more articles on base 4, the weight of slide 75 and rod 76, exceeding that of weight 80, causes the slide to leave the slot 46 uncovered. But when the bottom article of the stack has been ejected, then the slide 19, which moves with the ejector, and whose lower portion depends below said ejector, co-acts with the lever 7'? to cause the slide '75 to cover slot 46. Thus, when the bottom article has been ejected and the weight 35 retracts traveller 24 and also ejector l1 and slide 19, the lower portion of said slide 19, in moving rearwardly, engages a stud 81 that projects laterally from lever 77, thereby rocking said lever, in which act the weight 80 is lowered and the rod 76 is raised, thus moving slide '75 up into its slot closing position.

In the modified form of coin supporting and washer rejecting means illustrated in Figs. 13 to 16, a channel 82 is shown as secured to the frame wall 29, and a lever 83, pivoted at 84 to said channel has a tooth 85 at one end which is adapted to enter the orifice in a washer to impale it. Lever 83 is connected to another lever 86 as at 86c by a pivotal yoke 87, a spring cushion 870. being interposed between the said levers.

Also, a pivotal yoke 88 connects the lever 83 with the wall 29, and a compression spring 89 normally urges said lever 86 against a lever 90, that is pivoted at 91 to the channel 92, which is carried by the traveller 24, being secured thereto as by bolt 93. An adjustment screw 94, bearing against lever 86 serves as a stop to limit the movement of said lever toward wall 29; and an adjustment screw 95, bearing against lever 90, serves as a stop to limit the movement of said lever toward traveller 24. A compression spring 96, guided by a stud 97, and bearing against lever 90, urges said lever toward lever 86.

Lever 90 also has a nose portion 98 which lies normally against the peripheral edge of a proper or designated coin, here indicated at 99, the opposite edge portion of said coin, at its perimeter, being engaged by the bent over end 100 of a spring finger 101, whereby the coin, which has fallen through chute 102, becomes caught by and lodged between the nose 98 and finger end 100, which elements are spaced apart exactly the distance necessary for them to constitute a frictional coin hold. Should the coin be of too small a diameter it Would not be so held, but would fall away.

85 will enter the hole therein When the traveller is moved operatively in the direction of the arrow thereby the lever 90- is drawn out of contact with lever SSandthereupon lever-90 is moved under the action-of spring 96.,-

shifting nose 98 out of the path of thecoin, said cointhereaiter riding up incline 103 on to'ba'se support 104, in which elevated position it co-acts with finger 45 for release of the pawl 42, whereafter the coin is delivered to the coin box in the manner previously described. a

It will be seen that there is another spring finger 105, having a bent over end 106 which extends beyond, but lies in the same plane as the finger end 100. When awasher has been impaled by tooth 85 and the traveller is drawn away, the washer will become held between the two, spaced points presented by fingerslol, 105, whereas if only one finger were employed the washer would be apt to swivel thereon. As thus held the washer,

on the return movement of the traveller, will be' displaced by contact with the flange 107. When the lever 90 leaves contact with lever 86 another effect produced thereby is that the spring pressure on lever 86 causes the lever 83 to be rocked, moving the tooth 85 away from the spring fingers 101,

Variations within the spirit and scope of my invention are equally comprehended by the foregoing disclosure.

I claim: V

1. The combination, in a vending machine, of fixed supporting means for a stack of articles, ejecting means supported by'said stack and adapted to eject successive topmost articles, an arm connected to said ejecting means, a horizontally movable traveller, a fixed bar mounting said traveller, a vertical guide slidingly engaged by said arm and connected to said traveller, and means for imparting reciprocatory movement to said traveller, said movement being simultaneously imparted to said guide and said ejecting means.

2. The combination, in a vending machine, of fixed supporting means for a stack of articles, ejecting means movably supported upon said stack and adapted to eject successive topmost articles, a slide connected to said ejecting means, a horizontally movable traveller, vertical guide means connecting said traveller to ejecting means by way of said slide, manual means for moving said traveller in one direction, and return means therefor.

itwin be noted that the tooth'85Son lever-s3- bears with slight pressure against the coin" sur-* face, but if a washer is deposited, then the toothand impale-1t."

3. The combination, in a vending machine, of H fixed supporting means for a stack of articles, ejecting means supported by said stack and adapted to eject successive topmost articles, a slide connected to said ejecting means, a vertical guide bar for said slide, a fixed horizontal bar, a traveller on said horizontal bar, said traveller engaging said vertical guide bar, manual means for moving said traveller in one direction along said horizontal bar, and return means therefor.

4. The combination, in a vending machine, of fixed supporting means for a stack of articles, ejecting means supported by said stack, said ejecting means having a pivotal member adapted to engage a topmost article, at the rear thereof, to

on said guide means, an arm connecting the slide and the ejecting means, manual means for moving said traveller in one direction, and return means therefor.

5. The combination, in a vending machine, of fixed supporting means for a stack of articles, ejecting means supported by said stack and adapted to eject successive topmost articles, a flexible guard, for said stack of articles, a guard engagmember that is movable vertically in front of the next to the topmost article, and take-up means for said guard located below the plane of said supporting means.

6. The combination, in a vending machine of fixed supporting means for a stack of articles,

ejecting means supported by said stack and adapted toveject successive topmost articles, and an adjustable guard member that is supported in front of the next to the topmost article.

. WALTER K. TAVENDER. 

